Web App and Product Design Melbourne
Web app design built around how people actually work
I design web applications and digital products around how people actually use them. That means user flows and wireframes before visual design, rapid prototyping for testing before development, and production-ready Figma files that development teams can build from confidently. The goal is always a product that works for the people using it and delivers on the business objectives behind it.
Why UI design matters in web apps
Web apps are a different design challenge to marketing websites
Users are in your product to get something done. Every unnecessary click, confusing label, or unclear state is friction that costs you. I design web apps around how people actually work, building from research outputs and close collaboration with development teams to deliver interfaces that are fast to use and built to scale.
Fewer problems in development
Problems found in a prototype cost a fraction of what they cost to fix after build. Investing in thorough wireframes and interactive prototypes before development begins means fewer revisions, less back and forth, and a final product that more closely matches the original intent.
Products people actually want to use
A technically functional product that people find confusing or frustrating is still a failed product. Good UI design closes the gap between what a product does and how easily people can do it. Clear navigation, predictable interactions, and interfaces that respond the way users expect make the difference between adoption and abandonment.
Design systems that scale with the product
Most web apps grow over time. Building a component library and design system from the start means new features can be added consistently and quickly. It also gives development teams a shared language with design, reducing the interpretation that leads to inconsistency across the product.
Who I work with
I work with businesses and organisations building or redesigning web applications and digital products, and with agencies that need senior UI design on complex product builds.
“Ash’s professional approach and experience allow him to seamlessly collaborate with both our team and our clients. His ability to deliver exceptional work across various disciplines has consistently impressed clients, who always rave about his creativity and professionalism. We couldn’t ask for a more reliable team player.”
Josh Hall
Art Director @ MKTG Sports + Entertainment
“Working with Ash is always a pleasure. His expertise in CSS and JavaScript animation libraries add a polished touch to projects. His handovers are clear and thorough, and he’s great to collaborate with during a build to keep everything on track. It’s rare to find someone with such a strong grasp of both design and development.”
Rao Abid Ali
Lead Developer @ BJM Digital
“We’ve been working with Ash for years now and he never disappoints. His wealth of web and UI experience has been invaluable to our digital offering, and clients love him for it. He brings an extra layer of craft and polish to everything he touches.”
Chris Harris
Creative Director & Founder @ Redkite.Design Agency
Chris Harris“Working with Ash was one of those rare experiences where the work comes back better than you imagined. His ability to bring motion and storytelling into a digital experience is genuinely impressive, and he does it without making it feel overdone. Real craft.”
Lee Mate
Head of Digital @ Excite Media Agency
“Ash is the definition of a pro. His creativity is consistent, industry-leading, and bang on time. Clients love when Ash is at the helm; he always listens intently where you feel totally heard, all the while his capabilities and understanding give total confidence in the design direction and execution of every project.”
Senior UX Designer @ GS1 Australia
“Working with Ash as a fellow designer was a great experience. He understood the brief quickly, worked confidently within the existing brand, and produced work that genuinely elevated what we had. His handovers were clean and well-considered, which made the whole process feel collaborative rather than transactional. I’d work with him again without hesitation.”
Product Designer @ TIG Freight
“Ash made the whole process straightforward from start to finish. He took the time to understand what TIG needed, asked the right questions, and came back with a site that genuinely reflects who we are as a business. Communication was clear throughout and the end result has made a real difference to how we present ourselves online.”
Marketing Manager @ TIG Freight
“Ash was a strong addition to the ThreeScoops team. He operates at a senior level across web, UI and brand, and consistently delivered work that clients were genuinely excited about. He fits into an agency environment naturally, takes direction well, and brings his own ideas to the table when it counts. Reliable, talented, and great to work with.”
Art Director @ ThreeScoops Creative
“From a developer’s perspective, Ash is exactly who you want designing the things you have to build. His files are well-organised, his components are logical, and he actually understands how things get built. He’s easy to collaborate with during a build and always open to a conversation if something needs to be adjusted. It genuinely makes the development process smoother when Ash has done the design work.”
Senior Developer @ BJM Digital
“Ash was a core part of the BJM Digital team for six years and his contribution to the agency was significant. He brought a level of craft and consistency to every project that clients noticed and appreciated, and he played a real role in helping us grow our digital offering. He’s the kind of designer who takes ownership of his work and makes everyone around him better. I’d recommend him without reservation.”
Director @ BJM Digital
“Ash is one of the most reliable designers I have worked with. He hit his deadlines, communicated clearly, and consistently produced work that clients got excited about. The feedback we received from clients about working with Ash was always positive, which says a lot.”
Digital Optimisation @ DuluxGroup
“Working with Ash was straightforward in the best possible way. He understood briefs quickly, delivered work that rarely needed significant revision, and clients genuinely enjoyed working with him. We regularly got unsolicited positive feedback from clients about Ash specifically, which is not something you can say about every designer.”
Senior Project Manager @ Jetstar
Web app design process
From understanding the problem through to a finished, production-ready design
Tools & Apps
01. Discovery and Research
Before any design work begins I want to understand the problem properly. Who are the users, what do they need to do, what is getting in the way currently, and what does success look like for the business? I work from research outputs rather than conducting research myself, so if you have existing interviews, analytics, or usability findings, this is where we use them.
Research Review and Synthesis
Working through existing user research, analytics data, and business requirements to identify what the design needs to solve. I work from outputs rather than conducting primary research myself.
Stakeholder Alignment
Getting everyone aligned on user needs, business goals, and technical constraints before design begins. The earlier these conversations happen, the less rework later.
Problem Definition
Translating research findings and business requirements into a clear design brief. A well-defined problem is half the solution.
02. User Flows and Information Architecture
Mapping how users move through the product end to end before any screens get designed. Identifying key journeys, decision points, and edge cases at the flow level means they are solved on paper rather than in Figma or in code.
User Flow Mapping
Documenting the key journeys through the product, from entry point to completed task, including branching paths and error states.
Information Architecture
Organising content and features so they are easy to find and navigate. Getting this right at the planning stage prevents the restructuring that costs time and money later.
Navigation Design
Designing navigation systems that scale with the product. Clear structure, logical grouping, and patterns that work across the complexity of a full application rather than a marketing site.
03. Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Design
Low-fidelity wireframes establish layout, content hierarchy, and interaction patterns before visual design begins. Fast to produce, fast to change, and much cheaper to revise than finished designs. This stage is where the structure of the product gets agreed before the visual layer goes on top.
Screen Wireframes
Low-detail layouts for every key screen in the product, showing content placement, component hierarchy, and layout logic without getting into visual design.
Interaction Patterns
Defining how the product behaves. What happens when you click this, submit that, or hit an error. Establishing consistent patterns early keeps the product feeling coherent as it grows.
Stakeholder Review
Presenting wireframes for sign-off before moving into high-fidelity design. Changes at this stage are fast and inexpensive compared to changes after visual design or during build.
04. UI Design and Component Library
High-fidelity UI design in Figma, built on a structured component library from the start. Every screen designed to production quality, with a component system that keeps the product consistent as it scales and gives development teams a single source of truth to build from.
High-Fidelity Screen Design
Production-quality UI for every key screen and state. Designed with accessibility, responsiveness, and developer implementation in mind throughout.
Figma Component Library
A structured component library with variants, states, and auto-layout. Built so the product can grow without losing consistency, and so developers have a clear reference for every element they need to build.
WCAG Accessibility
Colour contrast, focus states, semantic structure, and keyboard navigation considered throughout. WCAG 2.1 AA compliance built in from the start rather than checked at the end.
05. Prototype and Testing
Interactive Figma prototypes that let you click through the full product experience before build begins. Used for stakeholder presentations, user testing sessions, and developer reference. Catching usability issues at the prototype stage costs a fraction of fixing them in a live product.
Interactive Prototype
A clickable Figma prototype covering the key user journeys. Close enough to the real thing to surface genuine usability issues before a line of code is written.
Usability Testing Support
The prototype can be used directly in user testing sessions. I can assist with synthesising feedback and translating findings into design iterations quickly.
Stakeholder Sign-Off
A prototype is a much more effective tool for getting stakeholder approval than static screens. People understand what they are approving when they can interact with it.
06. Developer Handover
Thorough, well-documented Figma files that development teams can build from without needing to chase answers. Component specs, interaction notes, responsive behaviour, and edge case documentation all included. I stay available during build to answer questions and review work in progress.
Figma Dev Mode Ready
Files structured for Figma Dev Mode with component specs, design tokens, and style references accessible without additional annotation work.
Interaction and State Documentation
Every interactive state, loading state, error state, and empty state documented. Developers should not need to guess what a component looks like in an edge case.
Build Support
Available during development to answer questions, review builds in progress, and make sure the final product matches the design intent rather than drifting during implementation.
Featured web app and product design work
A selection of web app and product design projects across a range of industries and platforms.
More services
Get the full creative solution with my other services.
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eCommerce Web Design
WooCommerce design and builds that make browsing feel natural and buying feel easy. Designed around how customers actually shop, from product page through to checkout.
- View Service: Freelance Designer For Agencies
Freelance Designer For Agencies
Senior web and UI design delivered under your agency’s banner. White-label, embedded, or project-based. No overhead, no management layers, just reliable senior design.
- View Service: UI Design
UI Design
Interface design for web platforms, dashboards, and digital products. Wireframes, prototypes, and production-ready Figma files your development team can build from accurately.
- View Service: WordPress Web Design
WordPress Web Design
Custom WordPress themes built to match the brand, not a template. Fast, clean, and manageable by your team without developer support for routine updates.
- View Service: Design Systems
Design Systems
Figma component libraries, design tokens, and documentation that keep large UI projects consistent and scalable. Built so your team actually uses it, not just references it.
- View Service: Web Design
Web Design
Strategy, responsive design, and WordPress builds for businesses and organisations across Melbourne and Australia. Designed to perform as well as it looks.
Web app and product design questions
Common questions about UI design for web applications and digital products
Do you do UX research or just the design?
I work from research outputs rather than conducting primary research myself. If you have existing user interviews, analytics, usability testing results, or customer feedback, I can work with all of that. If you need someone to plan and run the research, I can recommend researchers I trust and then take over from the outputs.
What is the difference between web design and web app design?
A marketing website is primarily about communicating and converting. A web app is about helping users complete tasks, often repeatedly over time. The design challenges are different. Web apps require deeper thinking about user flows, states, edge cases, and how the product behaves over many interactions rather than a single visit.
Can you redesign an existing web app rather than design from scratch?
Yes. Redesigning an existing product is often more complex than a new build because there are existing users, existing workflows, and existing data to consider. I have done both and the process adapts accordingly. Get in touch with the details and we can work out what the project needs.
Do you work with development teams during the build?
Yes. I stay available during build to answer questions, review in-progress work, and make sure the finished product matches the design. The amount of involvement depends on the project and the development team’s experience with Figma handovers, but I do not disappear once the files are handed over.
What do you deliver at the end of a web app design project?
A complete Figma file with all screens, components, states, and interactions. A component library structured for developer handoff. Interaction and state documentation. An interactive prototype covering the key user journeys. And availability during the build phase to support the development team.
How do you handle complex data interfaces like dashboards and tables?
These are a significant part of what I do. Designing data-heavy interfaces well requires thinking carefully about hierarchy, density, filtering, and how users scan and compare information. I have designed dashboards, reporting tools, and data management interfaces across several industries and know how to make complex data genuinely readable.
How long does a web app design project take?
It depends heavily on the scope and complexity of the product. A focused feature redesign or new flow can be a few weeks. A full product design from scratch is typically 8 to 16 weeks. I give a realistic timeline at the proposal stage based on what the project actually involves.
What is your availability?
I take on a limited number of projects at a time to make sure each one gets the attention it needs. Get in touch with your timeline and I can let you know what is possible.
Want to discuss a web app or product design project? Get in touch.